In the Worst Wreck/Forensics Dept. Finally found the perfect $8 parts donor to reclaim a neglected $10 Daiwa Sealine 450H. Several screws had been broken off or hopelessly frozen in the frame of the otherwise decent looking 450H. Got a common abused 400H for parts to restore the far less common 450H. To salvage the wide frame required special effort w/dental bits in order to remove the broken off screws w/o damaging the threads in the casting. I slotted the broken stubs & wedged the halves out of the 'cement' that seized them in place. I'm still amazed by how completely welded together salt can leave such parts. The 450H suffered the Zero Maintenance strategy, never taken apart for cleaning or lubrication. After it stopped working the dry seized screws were butchered, leaving the previous owner unable to even get it opened up. The original grease had broken down into a hard cement that clogged the gears, bound up the reel & ruined the bearing.
Oddly enough the 400H partzer suffered an opposite problem. Whoever worked on it last had absolutely filled the gear case w/grease, defeating the AR dog/spring action. Happily only 1 screw was stuck & responded to heat quite easily. In the same hands the handle was allowed to go w/o lube & predictably the knob seized, leading to loosening the peened posted to the point it spun in the handle blade. I gently warmed the knob until I could wrestle it off the sleeve, so as to be able to use a torch to free it, then reset the post & reinstalled the knob to save the handle.
Very happy to have a decent 450H that's ready to fish & a nearly complete 400H in the parts dept for my $18 investment.
